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By William NeumanTHE NEW YORK TIMES • Saturday February 16, 2013 6:26 AM

Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoMIRAFLORES PRESIDENTIAL PRESS OFFICEVenezuelan President Hugo Chavez, center, poses for a photo with his daughters, Maria Gabriela, left, and Rosa Virginia as he holds a copy of Cuba’s state newspaper,
Granma. The paper is from Thursday.

CARACAS, Venezuela — The Venezuelan government released photographs yesterday of President Hugo
Chavez for the first time since he had surgery in Cuba more than nine weeks ago.

The four photos show Chavez lying in bed and smiling, with two of his daughters, Rosa Virginia
and Maria Gabriela, on either side of him.

Jorge Arreaza, the minister of science and technology who is married to Maria Gabriela, said the
photos were taken on Thursday.

“There he is with his family, always attentive to the people of Venezuela, always attentive and
in charge of his functions, working tirelessly,” Arreaza said.

Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said doctors had controlled a severe lung infection that
Chavez contracted in the hospital. But he said the president has a “tracheal tube” that makes it
difficult for him to speak.

Chavez has had four cancer-related operations in Cuba since June 2011. The latest was on Dec.
11.But in contrast to his past absences, Chavez has remained out of sight and hasn’t even posted on
Twitter or telephoned a government television program, which he often did before.

Government officials have insisted that he is continuing to run the government from his hospital
bed in Havana, but the political opposition has long challenged that assertion, questioning how he
could manage the country and be too sick to communicate with the public directly.

As Chavez’s absence has dragged on, the opposition has demanded that the government provide
proof that he is well enough to lead. Some have even questioned whether he is still alive.

Yesterday, opposition leader Henrique Capriles responded to the release of the pictures, posting
on Twitter: “How the spokesmen of the government keep lying to the people.”

In another tweet he said: “A few days ago, the liars said they talked with the Pdt., now they
say he can’t talk! They make fun of their own people.”